Large dams account for only 9% of recorded barriers. Most are small, low-head structures such as ramps, bed sills, weirs and culverts: often overlooked, yet still disrupting the movement of fish, water and sediment.
Records by country
Top 10 of 36 countries. Figures also reflect the completeness of each national inventory.
Barrier height
Based on 119,227 records with height data. 72% are lower than 2 m.
Data compilation
Barrier records from existing inventories across Europe were collected and harmonised into a single, consistent dataset.
120 databasesField validation
Low-flow surveys along 2,700 km of river revealed barriers in every one of the 147 rivers visited, many of them missing from existing records.
2,700 km · 147 riversModelling
Field results were used to estimate barrier density where records are incomplete, producing the first estimate of the total number of barriers in Europe.
1.2 million+ barriersEach record in the Atlas includes the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
GUID | Unique identifier of the barrier |
Type | Dam, weir, sluice, culvert, ford, ramp/bed sill, other or unknown |
Latitude_WGS84, Longitude_WGS84 | Location in WGS84 coordinates |
Country | Country where the barrier is located |
BasinName, RiverName | River basin and river name, where available |
Height, HClass | Height in metres and height class, where available |
When using the Barrier Atlas data, please use this citation:
AMBER Consortium (2020). The AMBER Barrier Atlas. A Pan-European database of artificial instream barriers. Version 1.0, June 29th 2020. https://amber.international/european-barrier-atlas/
The Atlas and its findings are described in detail in the following paper:
Belletti, B., Garcia de Leaniz, C., Jones, J. et al. (2020). More than one million barriers fragment Europe's rivers. Nature 588, 436–441. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3005-2